Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Tampa Bay, FL

March 9, 2003Sarasota County, Florida

NWS Tampa Bay, FL issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 2003, 7:44 PM EST for Sarasota County, Florida. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 9, 2003, 7:44 PM EST (00:44 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 2003, 8:15 PM EST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Tampa Bay, FL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 40 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2003-03-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 774 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2003-03-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
774 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
819 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

105 
WFUS52 KTBW 100044
TORTBW
FLC115-100115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
744 PM EST SUN MAR 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN SARASOTA COUNTY IN FLORIDA.

* UNTIL 815 PM EST

* AT 744 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER NORTHWESTERN SARASOTA COUNTY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT...
  DESOTO LAKES BY 745 PM EST.
  FRUITVILLE BY 750 PM EST.

TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT. TAKE COVER NOW MOVE TO
A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING.
ABANDON MOBILE HOMES. LEAVE VEHICLES AND GET INTO A DITCH OR LOW
SPOT.


&&

LAT...LON 2739 8258 2737 8259 2727 8241 2737 8237

$$

33

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.